SEBASTIAN. 



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rows. A woman, who came by night to inter his 

 body, finding signs of life in him, took him home, 

 and nursed him till he recovered. He then pre- 

 sented himself before Diocletian, and remonstrated 

 with him on his cruelty; whereupon the emperor 

 ordered him to be beaten to death with clubs, and 

 his body to be thrown into the common sewer. 

 His relics were carried to Soissons, in the ninth 

 century, whence they were dispersed through 

 France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. St 

 Sebastian is invoked against the plague. His day 

 is the 20th of January. There are many pictures 

 of this saint, by the most eminent painters. He is 

 generally represented tied to a tree, with arrows 

 sticking in his body. 



SEBASTIAN, DON, king of Portugal, post- 

 humous son of the Infant John and of Joanna, 

 daughter of Charles V., was born in 1554, and 

 ascended the throne in 1557, at the death of his 

 grandfather, John III. He showed a great love 

 for knowledge, and was educated, unfortunately, in 

 an injudicious way, by his guardian, Catharine of 

 Austria, wife of John III. (sister of Charles V). 

 Fanaticism took the place of piety in his mind, and 

 Quixotism that of bravery. In order to distinguish 

 himself from all other princes, he assumed the title 

 of "Most obedient king," as the king of France 

 was styled "Most Christian king," and the king of 

 Spain "Most Catholic king." His devotion to the 

 church was only equalled by his aversion to unbe- 

 lievers. He conversed with the Jesuits around 

 him on nothing but the happy moment when he 

 should shed the blood of the Moors. His adven- 

 turous spirit appeared in an expedition which he 

 made at the age of twenty years, with 800 or 900 

 Portuguese, to Tangier, among the mountains of 

 the northern coast of Africa, where he fell upon 

 the unsuspecting inhabitants. His success on this 

 occasion led him to undertake more daring enter- 

 prises. The nephew of the sheriff of Fez and 

 Morocco, Muley Mohammed, was involved in an 

 open war with his uncle, whom he aimed to deprive 

 of the throne; and Sebastian promised him his as- 

 sistance, hoping to effect something for Christianity 

 and the fame of Portugal. He communicated his 

 design to Philip II., who, according to some au- 

 thors, earnestly dissuaded him from it; according 

 to others, he not only encouraged him, expecting, 

 in case of his death, to be made king of Portugal, 

 but even promised him fifty galleys and 10,000 sol- 

 diers. In spite of the admonitions of the widowed 

 queen, and the representations and offers of Muley 

 Moloch, the sheriff of Morocco, who promised to 

 cede to him four fortified places on the coast of 

 Africa, he equipped a fleet and an army, part of 

 which, he had collected in Spain, Germany and 

 Italy, and sailed for Africa, June 24, 1578, at the 

 .urn of twenty-three years. The fleet comprised 

 about 1000 vessels of different sizes, and had on 

 board 9000 Portuguese, 3000 Germans, 700 Eng- 

 lishmen, and 2300 Spaniards. They landed safely 

 at Al'zira, and Muley Mohammed " came directly 

 with 300 Moors, to offer his son as a hostage. In 

 the mean time, the sheriff of Morocco had col- 

 lected a force of 100,000 men, and marched to the 

 shore. He again, however, attempted to negotiate 

 a peace, but without success. August 3, the two 

 armies approached. " As the Portuguese is resol- 

 ved upon his ruin," said Muley Moloch, "let him 

 perish." Sebastian summoned a council of war. 

 Some advised an attack, and others a retreat. The 

 hostile forces were separated by a river. Sebas- 



tian's camp was distressed by want of provisions, 

 and the enemy had taken possession of all the 

 heights. Muley Mohammed was himself in favour 

 of a retreat to the coast ; for there the fleet was 

 ready to receive the soldiers in case of defeat, and 

 the sickness of his uncle Moloch made him sure of 

 the throne in the event of his death, without un- 

 sheathing a single sword. But the king would not 

 be persuaded. He was even unwilling to defer the 

 attack till the afternoon, when the early approach 

 of darkness would greatly diminish the danger of 

 his soldiers, in case of defeat. He rode round and 

 encouraged his men, after they were drawn up in 

 battle array, August 4. But his adversary was 

 not, in the mean while, inactive. The Moorish 

 troops advanced in a large semicircle, having, in 

 the van, the thousands who had been driven by 

 fanaticism out of the south of Spain, and on the 

 wings 10,000 horsemen. Weak as he was, Muley 

 Moloch left his litter, and mounted on horseback. 

 The engagement soon became general. Sebastian 

 was foremost in the contest, and broke through the 

 first and second lines of the enemy. Muley Mo- 

 loch was obliged to retire from the battle. He 

 died in his litter, but his death was concealed from 

 his troops. The ardour of the young king soon 

 bore him into the midst of the enemy, who were 

 already pouring on the rear of his troops. He had 

 the alternative to die or yield. The friends who 

 surrounded him remained faithful to him to the last 

 extremity. Muley Mohammed was drowned in his 

 flight. Thus fortune baffled the hopes of all three 

 leaders. All the Portuguese troops were killed or 

 taken. There were different reports about the 

 fate of Sebastian. Some said he perished in the 

 thickest of the fight, others that he was taken, but 

 soon killed, because the Moors quarrelled about 

 the possession of him. On the morning after the 

 battle, Moloch's brother was proclaimed sheriff, 

 and immediately ordered a search to be made on 

 the field for the body of Sebastian. A valet of the 

 Portuguese king found a corpse, which he supposed 

 to be that of his master; but it was so disfigured 

 with wounds that it was impossible to identify it. 

 The consequence was, that his death remained 

 doubtful; and after Portugal had come into the 

 hands of Philip, four adventurers appeared succes- 

 sively, pretending to be Sebastian. One was the 

 son of a stone-cutter, and another the son of a 

 brick-maker. One of these ended his life on the 

 scaffold, and the other in the galleys. The last of 

 the four played a most conspicuous part. He ap- 

 peared, twenty years after Sebastian's defeat at 

 Venice, where he described particularly the mode 

 in which he concealed himself on the battle-field 

 among the dead and wounded, and declared that he 

 remained in Barbary, lest he should disturb the 

 tranquillity of Portugal. After this, he lived as a 

 iiermit in Sicily, and at length resolved to make 

 nmself known to the pope. He had been plun- 

 dered by robbers, and by chance recognised by some 

 Portuguese, and carried to Venice. This was his 

 story. He was banished by the senate, returned, 

 and was thrown into prison. In the examination 

 which he underwent, he appeared so innocent and 

 simple, that all Europe was moved with sympathy. 

 The senate set him at liberty, but banished him from 

 Venice. A Dominican friar, Joseph Taxera, in Paris, 

 moved every court in Europe to take an interest in 

 lis case. In the mean time, he was apprehended 

 again in Florence, and sent to Naples, where he 

 was treated as a galley-slave, but persisted in his 



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